Manitoba is a prairie province. Just to make that clear to those who don’t know. It is a flat province for the biggest part. It is definitely not a place where you would suspect hydro dams and waterfalls. Yet, Manitoba produces 90% of its electricity by hydro-electric dams.

Dams like Seven Sisters or its predecessor, Pinawa Dam provided electricity for the city of Winnipeg. This raises questions for many people outside Manitoba or Canada. How can a flat province have enough difference in altitude to produce hydro electricity? Let’s take a look at the waterfalls of Manitoba and see if there is no site steep enough for power.

Some time ago, I went up north with a friend. The idea was to spend a nice weekend, get some nice shots of some nice wildlife and simply have a good time. What I didn’t get was that “up north” requires at least a few days, not a simple weekend.

We ended up in an old mining town. By the time we wanted to go and shoot some wildlife, the said wildlife was already either asleep or frozen stiff. So the “wildlife idea” got somewhat changed into “shoot anything you want, we won’t get anything else now”. It turned out to be a good decision.

It’s time again. Try to keep an eye on the paper you wrote those resolutions on. I’m pretty sure it will be “lost” within the next two or three weeks. Those resolutions will wear off quickly, unlike your waist line. I can speak with experience, trust me. My resolutions for the new year do not include less food, more exercise or a sunny mood every day. They do include the resolution to go out and shoot more wildlife and nature here in Manitoba.

If there is anything that 2016 has taught me, then it is that time you don’t spend outside in nature is time you will never get back. Now if you can be in nature with friends, that is even better. Although sometimes…

It’s the time of the year again. The darkness is upon us, hope and laughter is served on every corner of the streets. Carols are floating through the air and lights are lit up all around us. As a photographer, it’s those lights you want.

The effort put in to creating a spectacular light show is sometimes enormous. Sometimes… not so (“Ditto”, anyone?). Most of the decorations are quite modest, but some stand out. Over the years I have shot many of them, some years a bit less.

Beauty can be found everywhere, that’s what any photographer will tell you. At least if he or she has an “eye” for things that stand out. Most of us rush over highways, without ever seeing a different bird than crows flying over the road. And we call them “bird” not Crow or Raven. It flies, so it’s a bird. End of story.

Those who have an eye for something more will discover that those highway birds are not all the same. They will discover that crows and ravens are not the same, and that some ravens have a white head and a white tail. Wait, that’s no raven anymore, but more likely a Bald Eagle. Once they get into that game, the possibilities become endless. A few weeks ago I left with a friend on a road trip. Meandering the highways and back roads of Manitoba.

As prairie Canadians we are supposed to have a subscription to frosty mornings. Surprisingly enough, this is the first one this year and we’re already at the end of November. Sometimes weather conditions are weird and high or low temperatures persist in a strange way. A few years ago all the weather guys were convinced that the North Pole had a severe case if resilience with high pressure. Leaving us with months of cold weather.

Other places have Ridiculous Resilient Ridges where normal weather patterns can’t get past. This year it all seems to be mellow, and in my opinion a bit flavourless. This morning, however came to life for me.

History, one of my favourite subjects. Now, not when I was in highschool. Far away history like the Renaissance or the last Ice Age have always fascinated me. Unless I needed to learn the facts and dates by heart to recite them later on in a quiz. Today I was thinking about my own recent photographic history and in particular the month of November.

November is usually the month when winter starts. At the same time, we continuously complain about the fact that the weather is “not like it used to be”. So why not go back for only a decade and see?

Everyone needs to do this. It’s a fact of life. No bacon, no life. We always think that this is only true for the carnivores among us, humans. Vegetarians and vegans will disagree, obviously. But there are alternatives to bacon. And no, I am not talking about transforming some vegetal substance into a bacon flavoured patty and call it meat.

One can eat fish, or even pork rinds. Just to name a few of them. Wildlife, however, never even asks if something is ethical to eat or not. They eat what they can get.